Simply Music

I wish I had more time for music and I guess that's the way with everyone.

A long lazy afternoon, with an iced drink,  a pair of headphones, the airconditioner on, and a platter of snacks. No mobile phone, no patients, no profession, just me and my music. No one will knock at the door, no parties to attend, just a slice of sky with a few  clouds floating by away from my window, far far away from traffic sounds and raucous cries of the street vendors. My occasional visitors would be a curiously silent Ranjana, a sniffing Pluto, and a couple of white pigeons on the window sill, an occasional spattering of raindrops, a cold exploratory breeze carrying with it the memories of a childhood long gone....

And I would wake up in a world full of bluebells, thick grass and a gurgling brook. Unknown ,unexplored winding paths would surround me which would have no terminus except where you want to stop, where on one side tall trees would rise in their strange arrangement, and mysterious bridges would straddle an unnamed river. And the headphones would play on and on the guitar chords by persons who would never know me and the pleasure I am getting travelling these misty roads with their music....

But the bell will ring and the television serials will blare and there will be the process of living in this Real world---but for a time, for a few hours, simply music was all that I wanted and got.

Here's Tom Morello--Great isn't he?

This Flash Player was created @ FlashWidgetz.com.

music playermyspace music playeradd music to your myspace

The Sectarian Viewer

If you look at the world around you, you will see most people viewing life through a cone. Sometimes the cone comes with proper lenses which allows them  to see with some clarity, but most of the time the views are blurred when looking at a distance. Looking close is better, but the total vision remains a cone. A few friends, family, some relatives and work colleagues---and that's all. Don't we need more? Of course, we do. But being in the cone is so comfortable, that we are content with it. In a public journey, we rarely talk to other people. In a cinema hall, the person next to you is the one who has to move their legs so that you can get in or out of your seat. In the coffee shop, the other tables are occupied by just persons babbling away. And the reason why we stay conish is that we are shy to make the first move, afraid that we may be rebuffed, rejected or seen as a quirk. The Cone stays with us, expanding little and often diminishing with age. We then become the great Sectarian Viewer.

Some become sectarian viewers by professional choice. They are often termed specialists.While they quibble over footnotes, they often miss the bigger picture. Many specialist doctors see their patients as a case--you know the one in which the fracture never united, or the one with the rare bone tumour. They cannot remember names, occasionally they recollect faces, forgetting that the patient has a family, position, and feelings. I dare say the  situation is the same in most professions except PR personnel who remember all about the "contact", because that is their job !!!!

Some are so because of their ambition. See the politicians. One becomes a rabid Hindu, crucifying other religions, because his constituency is full of ultra-religious voters. Some Leftists become overtly religious and have "charanamrit", hoping that he can squeeze out some button-pressors on election day. Some become developmental and promise free meals, free electricity,  non returnable bank loans, Rs2/Kg rice etc. etc. Their cone view is winning an election only, irrespective of the aftermath on the economy or honest taxpayers...

And there are the corrupt officials--mainly governmental. Officers and clerks who need a bribe to pass your bills. Menial staff who need money to clean the rooms or passages. Taxi or auto drivers who demand extra to go to a less traveled road, although they promised to go anywhere within their jurisdiction whenever required, when they got their permits to drive. Did you know that there is a rush to designate places as Maoist areas? Once this tag is obtained, people can be jailed for months for questioning, business enemies can be killed and passed off as "encounters", special buildings can be constructed with fancy interiors for the meetings to tackle terrorism, and extortionists can take on a "Maoist" label and happily carry on their money grabbing, confident and safe  with the backing by the conniving district officials. Their cone view is getting money, irrespective of the means. and unafraid of the consequences...

So India has the highest amount of money (70 trillion rupees!!!!) stashed away in Swiss Banks courtesy, politicians, Government officials, artists, businessmen etc.  China is fifth!!!!! Cone view of life---Swiss Banks!!!!!

However there is discernible movement in the other direction. Candles are lit for Rizwanur and Jessica, and the groundswell became a torrent forcing action against the right persons. Politicians threatening officials are being forced to pay for their misdemeanors. Members of Parliament are being sent to jail. But these are few and far between.

The sectarian viewers are simply too many. It is time to ascend to the top floor of a multistorey and see the world spread out below you, to think of a broader approach, a less harmful procedure, a humanity caring project which will enrich all of us, to move away from being a sectarian viewer to a world viewer.....

Yes, it is time to throw away our cones!!!!!!

Listen to these thoughtsome songs by Roger Whittaker and Bob Dylan.

This Flash Player was created @ FlashWidgetz.com.

music player for myspacemusic playermusic player for myspace

The Little Hopers

A Hoper, as expected , is defined in the dictionary as hoper - a person who hopes. Hope is defined as "A wish or desire accompanied by confident expectation of its fulfillment." As I see it however, there are three types of hopers. The No-hopers, the Big hopers and the Little hopers.

The No hopers are there all around you. Forced by Society and economics, they have lost the power to hope. Disenchanted, deprived and dejected, they can see no future for themselves or their near and dear ones. They are prevalent in the lower echelons mainly, but are surprisingly present amongst the favoured ones also. Eking out their existence, day by day,they see no difference between yesterday or tomorrow.No hopers expect nothing, so when they get anything they are delighted.

The Big Hopers are ambitious with huge goals. They dream of a winning lottery ticket, a sudden opportunity, an accidental windfall. They work hard, but they are always dissatisfied about their achievements. They are euphoric most of the time, but seem to be perennially picking themselves up from the floor.They are always looking beyond the horizon, with little attention to their present work. As such their work standards fall. Basic counselling procedures include setting goals and finding ways to achieve it. If the goals are unrealistic, they have to be downsized, a procedure abhorred by this group.

And there are the Little Hopers. Like me. Small achievements, once in a while. Small steps carrying you on.Easier to achieve the fulfillment of reaching targets. The cricket batsman, who thinks only of his next 10 runs, and not the hundreds, the rickshaw puller who wants 5 passengers in 3 hours, the salesman who sells 2 sarees by 12 noon. We are a contented lot, knowing that with a little effort, we can reach goals. The LONG March is only an aggregation of small steps.

So do hope, and reach your targets more often than not. It takes only little steps to maintain a low hoper!!!!

I am proud to be a low--hoper....

Listen to this beautiful music by Jan from the Netherlands on his Yamaha....

hope has a place.m...

RAGGING !!!!!

 

One of the most dreaded and controversial events in a college student's life, specially in residential schools and colleges is ragging. Conceived and nurtured in  colonial schools in England and Australia, it has found its crudest and most disgusting expression in the residential technical colleges of India and others in the subcontinent.

Postulated  as THE method to ensure discipline and cooperation between Juniors and Seniors, and as a moderate teasing, breaking-the-ice procedure, it has degenerated into a ludicrous and dangerous game in which no holds are barred, where psychiatrically degenerated individuals unleash their hidden idiosyncrasies on a group of teenaged,apprehensive individuals, who have little idea of the ethos of that particular institution.

While the milder forms can be acceptable, the hard core ragging soon starts in most of these places. Quickly, it degenerates into a debauched sexual dialogue, and often these susceptible entrants are subjected to erotic assaults, bordering and then  actually becoming sexual crimes. No lines are drawn except the morality of the ragger, which inevitably is the lowest common denominator of the senior students. Education (the primary reason that these people are there for) often takes a back seat. After the ragging period is over, supposedly the seniors and juniors are "friends" and everything is hunky dory from then on--even though the ragged students have been immeasurably scarred for life.

(This girl tried to commit suicide)

While the sexual ragging is more in some medical colleges and marine engineering colleges, physical assault raises its ugly head in many places, often reflecting the repressed psyches of the raggers. Ragging sees the worst expression of humanity, as every ragger finds solace in numbers and tradition (specially of their own experiences when they were freshers).

(Perpetrators of the assault on Aman. How could they be so vicious?)

Ragging has assumed epidemic proportions and a serious Law and Order problem, so much so that the Supreme Court of India banned it in a historic 2001 judgment. The Court defined ragging as "Any disorderly conduct whether by words spoken or written or by an act which the effect of teasing, treating or handling with rudeness any other student, Indulging in rowdy or indisciplined activities which causes or Is likely to cause annoyance, hardship or psychological harm or to raise fear or apprehension thereof in a fresher or a junior student or asking the students to do any act or perform something which such student will not do in the ordinary course and which has the effect of causing or generating a sense of shame or embarrassment so as to adversely affect the physique or psyche of a fresher or a junior student".

A report from 2007 by the Indian anti-ragging group Coalition to Uproot Ragging from Education analyzed 64 ragging complaints, and found that over 60% of these were related to physical ragging, and 20% were sexual in nature.The situation has worsened so much so that young innocent students are committing suicide and now some are being murdered.The website is www.noragging.com.

Another link detailing the Andhra Pradesh Government Act is:- http://janagama.com/stopragging/objectives.html

India's only registered Anti Ragging NGO, Society Against Violence in Education (SAVE) has noted 7 reported ragging deaths in the year 2007 alone and 31 reported deaths in the period 2000-2007.

Ragging is now seen to be a clear infringement of Human Rights, and subjected to the laws of the land.

Ragging has no utility in the 21st century. Bans have to be strictly implemented, punishments for violation have to be severe , exemplary and prompt, and repeaters have to be subjected to police action. The Wardens have to be strict in the implementation and they themselves should be subjected to punishment if they fail.

As a Freshman in Medical College, Kolkata, we were taken on a tour of the entire campus, treated to refreshmennts and cultural functions and that was it. Queries were more out of curiousity and getting acquainted rather than teasing or embarrassing us. I do not think that the graduates from this hallowed institution of 175 years are in anyway maladjusted or unfriendly or misfits. We respect our seniors and have wonderful working relationships with them even now.

Let us take a resolve today that ragging will be banned from campuses forever, a just requiem for an outdated colonial practice. As for the raggers, identify and isolate them, and convince them to stop, because this is a useless practice and could land you in jail.And if you are trying to take revenge because you were ragged--break the cycle by being strong yourself. The Institutions will be better places without ragging.

Then Aman Kachru's death would have taught us something forever.

And no parent has to face this scene....

Fifty Five today.......

I have reached 55 today, a figure which was beyond conception when I was 15, and a distant target when I was 25. At 35, I forgot my Birthday and at 45, I got presents from my children. At 55, messages flow in from the mobile and Inbox and my favourite sweets from my sister and my special dishes from my mother-in-law. Chocolates flood in. as do the greeting cards,shirts, flowers and best wishes. Ranjana judiciously gives me money for shoes( wives have this uncanny knack of knowing what we need!!!).The Kolkata night lights seem a little more brighter, and the wind seems to bring in the tangy smell of the Hooghly river like never before. The smog is way below and at 3AM in the morning, quite a few stars speckle the night sky and the clouds part ever so often to show that the moonlight still remains mystical.

At fifty five, today, the memory net traps some moments again--glistening water drops hanging from a rain soaked washing line. My mother sitting on a mat on the roof top, reading a book, having finished her daily chores a few minutes ago. My father watching the fish being unladen in preparation for a family feast... Conversations with my sister on  our small verandah, as the local boys shouted during their evening football game. All of us playing rings on the rooftop...Family picnic at Diamond Harbour. Spreading a sataranchi and tiffin carriers at the Zoo Gardens and Victoria Memorial. The magician who came to my Birthday Party and brought out scarves from nowhere..The first days at school and College. The first cadaveric dissection and the Anatomy Hall smells..Playing cricket at the hallowed Eden Gardens . All India Radio studios and the musty smell of Gramophone records and the scratchy players...Doordarshan studios and the butterfly feeling in the stomach as you went "Live". Ranjana's hand in mine as we watched a glorious sunset at Gopalpur.

Vicky's first medal in Elocution and his "Achievement"smile. Boni, breathless and thrilled after her Bharatanatyam performance..

Vicky, Boni and Gulu devouring mountains of momos at Siliguri...

My first view of the majestic Teesta --so different from the Ganges on the plains....

As I sway under the weight of what has been, I see the skies changing colours once again--but the sunrise today is special. I am still curious enough to see what the daylight brings. Today is Holi--the day of revelry--but these are not happy times. I dream of a day, just one day in which there are no Traffic Injuries or deaths, Just one day when no one complains and no one falls sick. One day, when the suicide bombers take a break as do guns, tanks and marauding aircrafts. One day when everyone smiles needlessly and idiotically--but they do smile..Just one day--selfishly I say, my Birthday.

At 55, looking back is more easy than looking forward, but almost instinctively, I see this vast city of mine awakening to the endless possibilities.

Yes, I dream of the Impossible Dream in my quest to attain the Unreachable Heights....

To dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear with unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go

To right the unrightable wrong
To love pure and chaste from afar
To try when your arms are too weary
To reach the unreachable star

This is my quest
To follow that star
No matter how hopeless
No matter how far

To fight for the right
Without question or pause
To be willing to march into Hell
For a heavenly cause

And I know if I'll only be true
To this glorious quest
That my heart will lie peaceful and calm
When I'm laid to my rest

And the world will be better for this
That one man, scorned and covered with scars
Still strove with his last ounce of courage
To reach the unreachable star......

This Flash Player was created @ FlashWidgetz.com.

podmatrixmusic player for myspacemyspace music